“How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count The Ways”
by Authoress formerly knownas Liz
Summary: During his English class, Yugi is assigned to give a poem to a person he loves. Who does he choose? Will he have the courage to give the poem to that person? Shounenai R


"How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count The Ways"

By Liz

LALALALALALALALALA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HELLO THERE! Welcome to my fluffy side story cause I'm in a fluffy mood!! YAY! It's probably going to be BAD but oh well here it is! 

This is one of my favorite love poems, and it is one of the best love poems ever written if not the best. So, I took my love for this poem and my love for Yami/Yugi fanfics and put them together! 

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh and if I did, Yami and Yugi would not be able to keep their hands off each other. ^_____^

Hehehe 

"….." Speech

'…..' Thought

/…../ Yugi to Yami

//……// Yami to Yugi

Duh.

****

Yugi Mutou sat at his desk, staring at the wall in front of him. He was bored and had nothing to really do. He was in the class he absolutely loathed. English. To top it all off, they were starting the one unit that Yugi did not look forward to studying. 

"Class, we are starting our poetry unit today!" The teacher said happily. Across the room, you could hear the groans of several boys, and the squeals from a group of girls sitting in the corner. Yugi just hit his head on the desk. 

Poetry…

Love…

Yami…

Yugi sighed. Yes, he had feelings for a certain yami that lived inside a certain puzzle, but would he tell him? Absolutely not. Yugi was afraid that if he confessed his undying love for his darker half, Yami would leave forever and never want to speak to him again.

"The first assignment you will doing involves a little research. You are going to find a poem and give it to a person that you care for. That person can be a mother, a father, a brother, etcetera. Then I want you to write a page summary on what that person thought about the poem." 

Yugi could hear the popular girls in the back discussing what kind of poem they were going to get, and whom they were going to give it to. Yugi thought about who he could give a poem to, but his parents had died a long time ago, and his grandfather was out on a business trip and wouldn't be back until the end of the month. 'I can't give it to any of my friends cause that would be really creepy.' Yugi thought. 

//Thinking about something aibou?//

Yugi jumped a little. /Yami! You scared me./

A soft chuckle. //Well, I'm sorry. I won't do it again.// A slight pause while Yugi regained his breath. //I heard about the assignment. Who are you going to give the poem to?//

/I don't know yet./ Yugi replied. /There's no one to really give a poem to./

//I'm sure you'll find someone.// A mental smile. //You should go back to paying attention, aibou, the teacher is getting pretty mad at you.//

Yugi opened his eyes to see the teacher looking strait at him and the entire class laughing at him. He blushed deep red and sunk into his chair. This was going to be a long day…

****

School was finally over and Yugi was slowly walking back to his house. He had his head to the ground, thinking about the poem assignment. 'I should give a poem to Yami, but, what if he rejects me?' Yugi took in a deep breath. 'But then again, there might be a chance that he could like me back…' Yugi reached the game shop and walked in. 

Yami materialized next to him. "Hello Yugi." 

Yugi felt chills on his skin. Every time Yami said his name, he felt all bubbly inside. Yugi looked at the ground. "Hello Yami." 

"Is something wrong aibou?" Yami put a hand on Yugi's shoulder. At the contact, Yugi tensed up, shocking Yami. "Aibou?"

"I have homework to do." Yugi said without looking up. He turned around and ran upstairs to his room, leaving Yami to wonder what had happened. 

****

Yugi threw himself on his bed. 'Stupid stupid stupid Yugi!' He punched his pillow. 'Now Yami probably thinks you're an idiot. Way to go.' 

Yugi heard a soft knock on his door, but he refused to answer it. 

"Yugi?" Yami put his hand on the doorknob, ready to enter.

"Go away." 

Yami pulled his hand away. He looked at the ground. "I'm sorry Yugi." 

The door slowly opened. "Sorry for what?"

Yami looked at his aibou's lovely eyes. "I'm sorry for whatever I did to make you upset."

"You didn't do anything Yami. I'm just mad at myself for something." Yugi said. 

Silence. 

"I'm sorry for telling you to go away." 

Yami reached out and pulled Yugi into a loving embrace. Yugi decided not to hesitate and put his arms around his yami. Yugi just felt so right in his yami's arms. As if Yami could just get rid of all the problems he ever had. Yugi tightened his grip on Yami, trying to pull him closer. 'I don't ever want to let you go Yami.'

Like all things, the hug had to end. Yami pulled back. "Feel better?" 

Yugi nodded. "Yes." 

The two boys smiled at each other. One smiling in enjoyment, the other hiding a deep emotion. Yugi turned around, went back in his room, and began to start the assignment. 

****

"Today's the day you will give your poems to your loved ones!" The teacher said. "And tomorrow, you will present your paper on their reaction." 

'Back in English.' Yugi sighed. 'I hope Yami likes the poem I found for him.' 

"Hey Yugi! Who are you giving your poem to?" 

Yugi looked over at his group of friends. Jounouchi was waving. "I don't know." He replied. "What about you?" 

The tall blonde blushed. "Oh come on Yugi. You know!" He shifted his eyes as if to point at a certain brunette sitting in the corner, reading away. 

"Ah yes." Yugi said. "Seto Kaiba." He giggled. "Who would have guessed that you would fall for him, of all people."

"I know." Jounouchi drifted off to his fantasyland where him and Seto would be together forever. 

Yugi smiled at his friend. 'At least Jounouchi has the courage to give his poem to Seto.' 

****

When Yugi got home, he pulled a piece of paper out of his notebook and held it nervously in front of him. 

'I'm going to do it!' 

"Hello aibou." 

Yugi turned around, hiding the paper behind his back. "Hey there Yami. How's it going?"

Yami looked suspicious. "I'm fine aibou." He walked closer to Yugi. "And you?"

Yugi could feel the paper slipping out of his hands. "I…I…I'm fine…" 

'It's now or never.' 

"Here!" He shoved the paper into his yami's hands and ran upstairs. 

Yami held the paper, confused. 'What could this be?' Shrugging, he began to read it. 

'It's a poem!' Yami's eyes widened in surprise. 

_"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways._

_I love thee to the depth and breadth and height_

_My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight_

_For the ends of being and ideal grace._

_I love thee to the level of every day's_

_Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light._

_I love thee freely, as men strive for right._

_I love thee purely, as they turn from praise._

_I love thee with the passion put to use_

_In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith._

_I love thee with a love I seemed to lose_

_With my lost saints. I love with the breath,_

_Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,_

_I shall but love thee better after death._

**_~Elizabeth Barrett Browning. _**

_Yami, I chose this poem for you because I love you. I love you with all my heart and soul. I know you probably don't feel the same way, but I just wanted you to know how much I care for you."_

Yami was stunned. 'Yugi…he loves me? I didn't think he felt the same to me as I felt for him…' He re-read the poem. "Yugi…" 

*****

Upstairs Yugi was laying on his bed, crying his eyes out. 'I can't believe I just did that. He probably hates me now. Maybe it would have been better if I hadn't told him.'

//Yugi.//

Yugi sat up, rubbing his eyes. /Yami?/ 

//Yugi…there's something I have to tell you. May I come in?//

Yugi mentally nodded. The door slowly opened and Yami stood there, holding the poem. "Yugi…" 

Yugi looked away. "Go ahead and reject me, I'm ready." 

"Yugi…"

Yugi looked up as he felt arms encircling him. "Yami?"

"Yugi, I love you too." 

Before Yugi could respond, Yami kissed him. Yugi closed his eyes and leaned up against the warmth of Yami's mouth. Hesitantly, he parted his lips, giving entrance to his yami, who quickly took it. Yugi pulled Yami closer to him as the kiss deepened. Hands entangling in each other's hair as Yami lowered them onto the bed. Yugi couldn't believe what was happening. All this time he thought his yami would think bad of him for loving him, but Yami loved him back. Yugi decided to put all his love into that kiss, showing Yami that he truly could not live without him. 

Soon, the two pulled away, air becoming an issue. 

"Yami?" Yugi asked softly, staring into the eyes of his beloved. 

Yami smiled at his aibou, kissing him sweetly on the mouth and placing his hand on Yugi's cheek before answering. "Yes, aibou?"

"You really love me?" 

"Of course. I love you and only you, Yugi. Although, you never did tell me the ways _you_ could count your love for me."

Yugi looked confused.

"As said in the poem."

"Right." Yugi smiled. "I love you, Yami, because you are everything that completes me. You are my protector, my soul mate, and my best friend. You make me feel alive and happy when I'm around you. You give me a reason the live, Yami, and _that _is why I love you."

"You took the words right out of my mouth Yugi."

Yugi smiled again and leaned up to claim Yami's mouth once again for another powerful kiss. Before their lips could touch, a soft coughing noise caught the two off guard. They pulled away to see Grandpa standing in the doorway.

"Grandpa!" Yugi yelled, pushing Yami away from him. 

Yami fell to the ground laughing but soon stopped when Yugi sent him a glare. "What?" He said. 

Grandpa gave them a strange look. "You two have some explaining to do…"

Yugi just sighed. He turned back to Grandpa and began telling him everything that had happened. 

****

The next day was the day Yugi was going to read his paper on Yami's reaction. He held his paper in his shaking hands, hoping the teacher would forget to call on him.

"Yugi Mutou?" The teacher said. Yugi slid under his desk. "It's your turn."

Yugi walked nervously up to the front of his class, hoping that his peers wouldn't think he was an idiot.

"My poem was titled, _How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count The Ways. _And I gave it to my yami. You may not know what a yami is, but that is not the issue. Yami, is who I love. At first, I didn't know how to tell him. I would feel scared every time I was near him. I would blush at the mention of his name and tense up at his touch. It was quite silly of me, I suppose. I mean, he is the other half to my soul. We share a bond that no one else could possibly understand. Yes, _he_."

Yugi stopped and stared at the class, hoping that they didn't disapprove of his sexuality. Seeing that no one even moved, he took a deep breath, placed one hand on the Millennium Puzzle, and continued. 

"Sometimes, I would get mad at myself for not being able to look at him strait in the eye. I felt really bad for lying to him, telling him I was alright when deep down, I really wasn't. I had no right to keep secrets from him. Keeping secrets from him was like keeping secrets from myself and I just couldn't do that. It was hurting us both inside and the only thing that I would do was hide. Hide, totally and utterly afraid. And he would look for me. Always there watching out for me. It wasn't until I got this assignment that I realized how much I really needed to tell him. In the end, everything turned out great and I can finally say 'I love you, Yami'."

Yugi put his hands to his side. 'There.' He thought. 'I finished.' 

The class just stared at him, not knowing what to do. Most of them were touched by his short, but compelling speech, although their pride was not willing to show it. 

Jounouchi was the first to start clapping. Everyone began staring at him like he was insane. Seto, being Jounouchi's new boyfriend after giving the blonde a poem of his own, backed up Jounouchi and Yugi and began clapping as well. 

The popular girls could not believe that Yugi, the freak as they would put it, could find true love and all they had were lousy football playing jocks. None of them clapped. 

The rest of the guys in the class wouldn't even look at Yugi anymore. They just thought he was another queer who would end up being beat up by the end of the day. 

But to Yugi, none of this mattered. 

Because he had found the one thing that did matter.

Yami. 

****

Liz: ^_^

Yami: Yay…

Liz: *smacks Yami* Be happy!

Yami: Fine…

Liz: -_-;; Okay, so I was bored and I had this written on my computer a while ago and I decided to finish it hehe. 

REVIEWS!!! Purple "GO" box at the bottom!

You WILL review…*jedi mind trick*


End file.
